Missing Drop Shadow Effect

[bryan.gough]

I am using the latest AE on two different machines (desktop and laptop when away from office). When I load a current project on my laptop, I get a warning that says I need to go Download the missing effect: Drop Shadow. Drop Shadow, to my knowledge, is a native effect... how could I have possibly "lost" this effect on my laptop... or even more perplexing, have an "older" version of it?

Sorry, I would like to post an image of the pop-up warning, but the forum editor says that the image file type I'm trying to upload is forbidden. Can't win today with Adobe. Here is a plain-text link.

imgur.com/a/mn9T2

Update:

Now, I just got an email saying my image had been approved by moderators...? Shouldn't it say "image is pending moderator approval" instead of "forbidden"?

Different issue.

I just looked at the effect and apparently:

• The missing effect is 8-bit and the current effect is in the Perspectives Effect folder and is 32-bit. Not sure why I have the 8-bit still on my desktop computer. That's the one I update/use the most.

Still, how do I update my desktop computer so that it has the 32-bit effect, and not the 8-bit effect?

[Rick Gerard]

Don't link an image or a screenshot, just drag it to the reply field on the forum. If you are on Windows just PrintScreen and Paste

Some effects render only 8 bits of color, some 16, some 32. It has nothing to do with our operating system. If your AE version is up to date on both machines then they should have the same native effects. Drop shadow is a layer effect and a standard visual effect available in the Effects menu. The effect has been 32 bit for a long time.

There must be something else going on but without a screenshot of your comp with modified properties of the layer giving you problems revealed it's impossible to say what the problem might be. Press the uu to show all modified properties of a layer.

My only guess is some kind of GPU driver problem, an AE build problem or some kind of other inconsistency in your systems.

[bryan.gough]

Thanks Rick,

The Forbidden Image issue is Adobe Forum's inaccurate way of letting me know that a moderator needs to approve my attachments. I get the same error every time. Followed (3-5 minutes later) by a Notification in my inbox that my image has been approved. Which is strange, because the "Forbidden Image" error prevents me from posting in the first place. I'll try dragging—wouldn't that be strange if that method was a moderator-work-around? #bug

I agree with you that, given my CC on both machines is fully updated, I should have access to the same 32-bit effects. Here is a clip of my effects panel. I have some position keyframes on the layer, but no adjustments made to the Drop Shadow effect. It's static. Since I'm on my laptop now, I'll just have to wait until I'm back in front of my desktop to troubleshoot further. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

[bryan.gough]

Haha! Dragging worked. That's a big miss on the moderator approval process!

[Rick Gerard]

the moderator looks for links to spam and other bad things... Uploading an image couldn't be easier.

[bryan.gough]

Yeah, checking external links makes sense... checking images loaded from local computer should be treated  the same as dragging.

[claudias98272944]

Has this question been answered? I am having the same issue about the drop shadow gone missing, and get the exact same image Bryan uploaded.

[bryan.gough · Accepted solution]

I think the problem was that I was opening an older project file, that referenced an older Drop Shadow Effect (8-bit). The CC updates have improved that effect to a Drop Shadow Effect (32-bit).

I just ended up replacing the missing effect with the updated one and moved on. Not sure there's a "fix" or a "problem"...